Just My Luck
by Whispering Darkness
Summary: Staring at the one-eyed man across the table who was either trying really hard to use Legilimency on him or trying to reduce him to a pile of ash with his stare, Harry Potter couldn't help but wonder how in the world he always ended up in situations like these. Two-shot.
1. Part one

**Just My Luck**

* * *

Harry took in the rather bare room, the famous muggle inventor/billionaire - or so he'd been told - by his side, the guard by the door and the tall, trench coat wearing man with an eye-patch who confidently took a seat opposite them.

A silence ensued between the four of them after everyone had taken their seats as the one-eyed man across the table seemed to be either trying _really_ hard to use Legilimency on him, or trying to reduce him to a pile of ash with his stare.

The Gryffindor couldn't help but wonder how in the _world_ he ended up in situations like this.

Maybe there _was_ something to that whole 'penchant for trouble' thing that people insisted he had after all…

"Harry James Potter" the man who was clearly in charge started, drawing out his name and, even while seated, managing to loom over him in a manner that was probably meant to be intimidating.

"Born to Lord James Potter and Lilly Potter nee Evans. Your parents were killed when you were a baby and you were raised by your maternal Aunt and Uncle. At age 11 you were sent to a boarding school in Scotland were you graduated at eighteen. You gained control of your father's wealth and stayed in Britain for only one more year before leaving, travelling around the world until you ended up in India."

"…is there a reason you're telling me my own life-story?"

"Oh, I'm just curious…" the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D answered, with no hint of curiosity in his voice or stance whatsoever, "how does a man, as filthy rich as Stark, end up in the middle of nowhere co-incidentally befriending someone like Dr. Banner?"

"There's nothing wrong with being filthy rich." Tony Stark couldn't help but comment, shooting a smirk at the annoyed Fury.

The man in question ignored him, though, and turned his gaze back to the unexpected complication in front of him.

"Who I befriend isn't really any of your business..." was all the wizard had to say about that, a small frown on his face.

"It is when said friend can turn into a creature with the destructive force of a dirty bomb." His eye narrowed in suspicion at the seemingly unsurprised person in front of him "…but then you already knew that, didn't you?"

"We travelled together for three months…" Harry shrugged "and what with your people trailing us everywhere and the stress of moving immediately at the drop of a hat, it was bound to happen sometime."

"And that doesn't bother you?" Fury probed, mockingly "It doesn't bother you that Dr. Banner, your _friend_, turns into a large green monster when he gets angry, attacking anything and _anyone_ around him?"

"Hey, now that's not really fair." Tony exclaimed "The man can't help it!"

Fury shot him a sharp glance to shut him up.

"It's not like he purposefully destroys everything around him. There are plenty of people who do. If you're really such a hot-shot super spy, you should know that. Shouldn't you be bothering them instead?"

"Stark, if you don't shut up right now I _will_ make you." The Director's growled threat succeeded where his glare failed and the billionaire shut his mouth with one last sarcastic remark: "Shutting up now."

Fury sighed and Harry absently wondered if the man thought he had made a mistake in allowing Tony present at this meeting so that Bruce would stop insisting to be here himself. Bruce _had_ become rather good at reigning in his temper after all, and Tony Stark seemed to annoy the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. a lot. Maybe it _would_ have been better for the guy's blood pressure to just have Bruce present instead of Tony? Harry considered the possible consequences of Bruce turning into 'the other guy' on a flying muggle airship and decided that perhaps Fury was onto something here after all.

"Not really." he answered the man's earlier question, drawing both of their attention back to him. "But if it bothers you we _could_ just leave…?"

"Funny." Fury answered with a glare that signified it was anything _but_. "Since you refused to remain behind in India you are with us now." his expression showed just how pleased the man was about this.

"You will stay out of the way. You will not go anywhere alone. You will stay here, by your _friend_'s side _at all times_ and keep him calm." The Director firmly laid down his law, his tone brooking no argument. After a moments pause, Harry just shrugged and silently nodded his agreement. He was planning on sticking by Bruce anyway.

"Congratulations Potter, you have won yourself a stay on my Helicarrier as a constant companion to a ticking time-bomb. Enjoy." With that last dig, the Director resolutely stood and his guard opened the door.

"Well… I think that worked out well." Tony cheerfully commented before standing up to leave as well.

Harry sighed as he followed the two out of the room, and resigned himself to spending the rest of this conflict on board of a humongous muggle airship.

From what he could pick up, something very dangerous was going on and it was a danger to a lot of people, not just this organisation. As much as he wanted to help, though, the laws on revealing magic to muggles were very strict. Sure, Harry wouldn't really be bothered to uphold those laws when a friend was in danger, but that wasn't quite the case here.

He wasn't exactly sure about what was going on, but for now Bruce seemed to be content enough to go along with S.H.I.E.L.D. and help them with whatever they needed his help for on the condition that they let him go afterwards.

Harry just hoped that the Director would keep his word. If necessary, the wizard would interfere but if it _did_ come to that he would have to be careful. The Gryffindor may not be a stickler when it came to the rules, but he had no desire to expose them all to a branch of the muggle military.

He followed Fury and Stark into a larger conference room where, beside Bruce, a few other people were present. There was a tall, muscular blond with blue eyes and the posture of a soldier – he practically came to attention when Fury entered the room – and the beautiful but deadly looking redhead that had come to find Bruce in Calcutta.

Harry shot Bruce a reassuring smile and nodded politely to the two others as Fury (re-)introduced him as a friend of Dr. Banner.

When Bruce and Tony were sent to the lab, he had no problem keeping them company, even if the science talk went straight over his head. Tony was blunt and sarcastic but honest and Harry found that he liked the man well enough. He was the perfect counter to Bruce's quiet, somewhat skittish and generally laid-back behaviour.

Things seemed to be going well enough until Tony, Agent Romanov and Captain Rogers returned from their little trip to Stuttgart with their prisoner in tow.

Because, along with the strangely dressed dark-haired man, they also brought with them _another_ man. This muscled blond wore an honest to god armour and a red cape over it and carried a very large hammer with him. He was loud, spoke a rather archaic sentences and strode with an overwhelming force of confidence. All in all, the man stood out more than a pure-blood wizard amongst muggles and that was saying something.

Of course, none of this actually fazed him at all.

No, it was the man's reaction after Harry was introduced that threw him completely for a loop.

The wizard had been careful not to draw any attention to himself. He had tried so hard _not_ to raise the slightest suspicion of Fury or anyone. He didn't want to let anyone know that he wasn't exactly as he seemed.

But apparently the man, Thor, didn't quite get the memo about the Statute of Secrecy.

Because upon being introduced Harry found himself drawn into a rough embrace and greeted heartily: "Ah! I have heard of you, my fellow warrior! And I commend you on your defeat of the wizard known as Voldemort. You have truly deserved your title as Saviour of the Wizarding World."

… well, bugger that.

Seriously, how _does_ he keep ending up in these sort of situations?

* * *

**A.N.:** Inspired by stories such as _**hctiB-notsoB**_'s 'I See The Moon'. The idea of a Bruce/Harry friendship is very appealing, somehow. Also, a conversation between Harry and Fury just tickles at me.

P.S. I feel like I'm spamming the Avengers/HP crossover section with one-shots... O.o


	2. Part two

**Just my Luck – part two**

* * *

"The words 'Statute of Secrecy' mean nothing to you, do they?" Harry asked the oblivious blonde, when the awkward silence that had descended onto the room started to become unbearable.

It seemed like his words where the start-shot for everyone else to start talking.

Stark had shot of five questions before the first even fully registered and he didn't get a chance to even _attempt_ to answer one of them before Fury _demanded_ everyone's full attention.

"You." he pointed at Stark, too furious to even threaten the man; "shut up."

The man wisely did as he was told, pretty sure that, despite being an occasionally helpful genius and public figure, he would possibly find himself _actually_ dumped in a volcano if he opened his mouth right now.

"And you" the Director pointed at Harry "Start talking. Now."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the man. He knew where this anger came from. He had understood, even from their short 'conversation' after he had come aboard of the flying ship, how much the man in charge of it thrived on information and on being in control of a situation.

To be blindsided like this in his own headquarters must have been a punch in the face.

"Well… that little life-story you told me, wasn't exactly _wrong_… just somewhat incomplete." Harry answered casually, with a small shrug.

A full thirty seconds of silence went by before the man actually bellowed; "AND?"

With the ease of someone used to spending a lot of time around Snape, Hagrid, various magical creatures, Dumbledore in all his glory, Molly Weasely, Mad-eye Moody and a few other intimidating people – such as Voldemort -, Harry simply took a long look at the gathered Avengers and answered completely matter-of-factly; "Statute of Secrecy. It's all sorts of classified. Muggles aren't allowed to know this stuff."

For about five seconds the wizard considered obliviating the bunch of them before realising that he hadn't the faintest clue how to erase the information off all of the camera's. Well that, and the fact that he would probably get shot the moment he sent his first spell. Maybe not the best of plans, even for him.

"How do you know about this, anyway?" He asked the instigator of his current predicament, instead.

"Ah! I have heard the glorious tale of your victory told in Asgard, young wizard." the man enthusiastically told him. "Truly you faced your death bravely and battled as only a true fearless warrior may. When the defeat of the dark wizard known as Voldemort became known in our realm we feasted heartily in your honour. For such tales of battle are gladly celebrated in our halls." Thor's manly slap on his shoulder nearly sent him flying.

"Err… right." Harry answered, slightly thrown by the man who was a little bit odd even by _his_ standards. "And… where's Asgard?"

Luckily Tony didn't seem to have any trouble following the conversation and Fury's earlier order had already lost it's effectiveness, so the genius helpfully filled him in; "Asgard is on a different planet. Thor here is kind of an alien. Apparently all of the Norse God's are aliens. Who knew, right? But then, who knew there were wizards happily living and fighting in Britain? Guess we're all still learning new things. Exciting, isn't it?"

It took a moment for Harry to cut through the man's sarcasm and process that. "So… you're not named after a God, but you _are_ actually the Norse God of Thunder?" He asked the man – God – in question, just to be sure.

"Indeed, young friend! And I am glad that the stories of my victories have in turn, made it to Midgard as well. For I too have fought many battles in defence of my people…"

Harry decided to do everyone a favour and cut the man off before he really got going. "Ah. Alright then, just making sure."

"Well… I suppose that's alright then." the wizard mused. If the Ministry didn't like it, they could just take it up with the enthusiastic warrior-God, as far as Harry was concerned.

"So, what are 'muggles'?" Tony asked curiously, not in the least put out by any of this.

"Hmm…" Harry hummed as his attention was drawn from imagining an encounter between the fine Ministry workers and Thor. "Oh, just non-magical people. Everyone here except for Thor, I suppose." He answered easily. "There's a strict law against letting anyone non-magical know about magic."

"You don't seem to be too worried about breaking the laws." Captain Rogers pointed out with a frown.

"Well…" Harry answered, "If the Ministry of Magic doesn't like it, they can just take it up with the God." he answered, nodding his head to the muscled blond with the large hammer.

He decided to leave the possibility of any memory tampering out of his answer. People could get a bit touchy about stuff like that.

None of this information was enough to satisfy Director Fury, it seemed. "And what does being a wizard _entail_ exactly?" he asked, customary mocking tone back in his voice. Apparently the man _was_ good at adapting quickly to a new situation. Good for him.

"You know, magic. Wands, flying broomsticks, cauldrons. The whole picture."

"Not good enough, Potter."

Harry sighed and figured in for a penny in for a pound. As long as they steered clear of any personal questions and particulars he really didn't care all that much.

"Fine. What do you want to know?"

Apparently the Director wanted to know more than anyone else was allowed to know, because he had Harry escorted back to the room of his first friendly chat with the man.

Three quarters of an hour later, Fury _still_ wasn't too happy with the wizard and Harry was refusing to provide any more particular information. Both were slightly frustrated with each other (maybe that was an understatement when it came to the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D) and neither was used to backing down.

Finally, the Gryffindor had enough; "I've told you far more than any muggle is supposed to know. Keep in mind that wizards have kept this a very close secret ever since the witch trials. And _even_ with the current muggle technology of camera's and the like the world still _does_. _not_. _know_. We have our ways of keeping our secrets. Don't push too hard or you will not like the response."

"Is that a threat, Potter?" The Director asked in the matter-of-fact tone of someone used to either receiving or issuing them. Or both.

Harry just shrugged. "I didn't come here as a wizard. I came here as _Bruce's friend_. I had no desire to expose this secret and I still have no desire to interfere in your business. In the end, how this turns out depends solely on you."

Fury sat back and took a long look at the calm wizard in front of him. "Thor called you the Saviour of the Wizarding World."

Harry nodded, wondering if the man was trying to question him _again_ on the meaning behind those words and just who this 'Voldemort' was. He narrowed his eyes having no desire to answer either of those questions, but the man continued thoughtfully;

"Maybe a wizard-saviour is just what the Avengers needed."

* * *

While the computer in the lab was tracing something called 'the Tesseract' Harry and Bruce had found a quiet corner in the cafeteria – it was surprisingly empty for such a populated aircraft – and managed to find some tea.

A comfortable silence stretched between the two. It was quite the opposite of the barrage of questions Fury and the other Avengers had for him and Harry felt himself soothed by it.

At least Bruce wasn't too angry about his secret.

If he _had_ been Harry would know. The transformation into a large green creature would have been hard to miss, after all.

"So, a… wizard, huh?" The usually unassuming man asked him calmly after a long moment.

"To be fair, you didn't tell me about 'the other guy' either." Harry had found about that the way he usually found out about things… by being thrown to the lions. Or the Hulk, as the case may be.

"True." Bruce agreed affably.

Another moment of silence as they both sipped their tea.

"Saviour of Wizarding Britain?"

And because this was _Bruce_ and not Director Fury, Harry actually answered him; "A bad wizard decided to take his issues out on the whole of Britain and I was drafted to go up against him." A hint of bitterness might have made its way into his voice, but he was pretty sure Bruce wouldn't hold it against him.

"That sounds rather… unfair. You're only eighteen, right?"

"Hmhm… yeah. But there was a prophecy and everything." Harry added, deciding that fair was fair and it wasn't _exactly_ the wizarding world's fault he had been pushed to the centre of their war at such a young age. "So I suppose I was involved either way. Voldemort was targeting me, as well as my friends. And _someone_ had to do _something_. I've never been the type to stand by and let innocent people suffer. Hermione calls it my saving people thing."

"You'd get along well with the Captain, then."

"Hmm… maybe."

With another sip of their green tea – Bruce seemed to have taken a liking to the stuff – the two silently enjoyed the current calm.

Finally it was Bruce who spoke up again, the curiosity in his face and voice only barely covering his concern; "Will you be taking the Director's offer, then?"

For a long moment Harry didn't answer. He had been the appointed saviour for a long time, too long. And he had never enjoyed it. He had actually travelled so far from Britain to get _away_ from it all. So when Fury asked him to join his little world saving team he just said he would think about it with no _real_ intention of saying yes.

But in the end, when it came down to it and people were in danger, could he really do anything else?

"Probably." he answered his friend truthfully, once again wondering how he always found himself in these kinds of situations. The Gryffindor was pretty sure that somewhere up there, someone was having a good laugh at him.

Ah well, things didn't exactly go according to plan. But then, when – if ever – did they? Harry supposed that in the grand scheme of things it could have been worse.

After all, Bruce _didn't_ get angry. And at least he had tea.

So all in all, things could be worse.

And, just as he was thinking this somewhere on the muggle airship something exploded.

Harry couldn't help but sigh.

…well, bugger that.

* * *

**A.N.** Due to popular demand, and the fact that I wanted to do a sequel for at least _one_ of my recent stories (I _have_ been overdoing the one-shot thing a bit), this little sequel found it's breath of life (so to speak). It feels kind of weird to write a sequel, but I hope it was ok.


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